Egypt's newly-appointed minister of finance, Hazem al-Beblawy, vowed on Sunday to set a maximum for public sector wages to bridge the pay gap between junior and senior employees.
Beblawy replaced Samir Radwan as minister of finance and the prime minister's assistant for economic affairs as part of a reshuffle by cabinet minister Essam Sharaf in response to public pressure.
"It is unacceptable that one employee's salary is thousand times bigger that another's," he told reporters following a meeting with Sharaf.
Beblawy said his duties include coordination between economy-related ministries, such as the ministries of finance, planning and international cooperation, trade and industry, and social solidarity.
He said he will work on restoring as much confidence as possible to Egypt's economy, noting that the current stage requires more productivity and discipline.
Beblawy said that the problems facing the Egyptian economy are typical of those faced by any state undergoing post-revolution change.
The minister revealed that he does not intend to amend the general budget set by his predecessor. “This budget had been approved based on the law, it would be dangerous to change or amend it – that would lead to more tension”, he said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
